Daniel 8:4
New International Version
I watched the ram as it charged toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against it, and none could rescue from its power. It did as it pleased and became great.

New Living Translation
The ram butted everything out of his way to the west, to the north, and to the south, and no one could stand against him or help his victims. He did as he pleased and became very great.

English Standard Version
I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward. No beast could stand before him, and there was no one who could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great.

Berean Standard Bible
I saw the ram charging toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against him, and there was no deliverance from his power. He did as he pleased and became great.

King James Bible
I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.

New King James Version
I saw the ram pushing westward, northward, and southward, so that no animal could withstand him; nor was there any that could deliver from his hand, but he did according to his will and became great.

New American Standard Bible
I saw the ram butting westward, northward, and southward, and no other beasts could stand against him nor was there anyone to rescue from his power, but he did as he pleased and made himself great.

NASB 1995
I saw the ram butting westward, northward, and southward, and no other beasts could stand before him nor was there anyone to rescue from his power, but he did as he pleased and magnified himself.

NASB 1977
I saw the ram butting westward, northward, and southward, and no other beasts could stand before him, nor was there anyone to rescue from his power; but he did as he pleased and magnified himself.

Legacy Standard Bible
I saw the ram butting westward, northward, and southward, and no other beasts could stand before it, nor was there anyone to deliver from its power, but it did as it pleased and magnified itself.

Amplified Bible
I saw the ram (Medo-Persia) charging westward and northward and southward; no beast could stand before him, nor was there anyone who could rescue [anything] from his power, but he did as he pleased and magnified himself.

Christian Standard Bible
I saw the ram charging to the west, the north, and the south. No animal could stand against him, and there was no rescue from his power. He did whatever he wanted and became great.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
I saw the ram charging to the west, the north, and the south. No animal could stand against him, and there was no rescue from his power. He did whatever he wanted and became great.

American Standard Version
I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; and no beasts could stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and magnified himself.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And I saw the ram thrusting to the West and to the North and the South, and no animals stood before him, and there was not one which was saved from his hands, and he did what he pleased, and he was lifted up

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And I saw the ram butting westward, and northward, and southward; and no beast could stand before him, and there was none that could deliver out of his hand; and he did according to his will, and became great.

Contemporary English Version
The ram went charging toward the west, the north, and the south. No other animals were strong enough to oppose him, and nothing could save them from his power. So he did as he pleased and became even more powerful.

Douay-Rheims Bible
I saw the ram pushing with his horns against the west, and against the north, and against the south: and no beasts could withstand him, nor be delivered out of his hand: and he did according to his own will, and became great.

English Revised Version
I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; and no beasts could stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and magnified himself.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I saw the ram charging west, north, and south. No other animal could stand in front of it, and no one could escape from its power. It did anything it pleased and continued to grow.

Good News Translation
I watched the ram butting with his horns to the west, the north, and the south. No animal could stop him or escape his power. He did as he pleased and grew arrogant.

International Standard Version
I watched the ram charging westward, northward, and southward. No animal could stand before him, nor was there anyone who could deliver from his control. He did as he pleased and exalted himself.

JPS Tanakh 1917
I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; and no beasts could stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and magnified himself.

Literal Standard Version
I have seen the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward, and no living creatures stand before it, and there is none delivering out of its hand, and it has done according to its pleasure, and has exerted itself.

Majority Standard Bible
I saw the ram charging toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against him, and there was no deliverance from his power. He did as he pleased and became great.

New American Bible
I saw the ram butting toward the west, north, and south. No beast could withstand it or be rescued from its power; it did what it pleased and grew powerful.

NET Bible
I saw that the ram was butting westward, northward, and southward. No animal was able to stand before it, and there was none who could deliver from its power. It did as it pleased and acted arrogantly.

New Revised Standard Version
I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward. All beasts were powerless to withstand it, and no one could rescue from its power; it did as it pleased and became strong.

New Heart English Bible
I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; and no animals could stand before him, neither was there any who could deliver out of his hand. But he did according to his will, and became great.

Webster's Bible Translation
I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.

World English Bible
I saw the ram pushing westward, northward, and southward. No animals could stand before him. There wasn’t any who could deliver out of his hand, but he did according to his will, and magnified himself.

Young's Literal Translation
I have seen the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward, and no living creatures do stand before it, and there is none delivering out of its hand, and it hath done according to its pleasure, and hath exerted itself.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Daniel's Vision of the Ram and the Goat
3Then I lifted up my eyes and saw a ram with two horns standing beside the canal. The horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one grew up later. 4I saw the ram charging toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against him, and there was no deliverance from his power. He did as he pleased and became great. 5As I was contemplating all this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between his eyes came out of the west, crossing the surface of the entire earth without touching the ground.…

Cross References
Deuteronomy 33:17
His majesty is like a firstborn bull, and his horns are like those of a wild ox. With them he will gore the nations, even to the ends of the earth. Such are the myriads of Ephraim, and such are the thousands of Manasseh."

1 Kings 22:11
Now Zedekiah son of Chenaanah had made for himself iron horns and declared, "This is what the LORD says: 'With these you shall gore the Arameans until they are finished off.'"

Psalm 44:5
Through You we repel our foes; through Your name we trample our enemies.

Ezekiel 34:21
Since you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak ones with your horns until you have scattered them abroad,

Daniel 11:3
Then a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great authority and do as he pleases.


Treasury of Scripture

I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.

pushing.

Daniel 5:30
In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.

Daniel 7:5
And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.

Daniel 11:2
And now will I shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia.

neither.

Daniel 8:7
And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.

Job 10:7
Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand.

Psalm 7:2
Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.

but.

Daniel 5:19
And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down.

Daniel 11:3,16,36
And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will…

Isaiah 10:13,14
For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man: …

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Able Animal Animals Beast Beasts Butting Charged Charging Deliver Great Hand Magnified North Northward Pleased Pleasure Power Pushing Ram Rescue Sheep South Southward Stand Watched West Westward Whatever
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Daniel 8
1. Daniel's vision of the ram and he goat.
13. The two thousand three hundred days of the suspension of the daily sacrifice.
15. Gabriel comforts Daniel, and interprets the vision.














(4) I saw the ram pushing.--The ram pushes in three different directions. This corresponds to the three ribs in the mouth of the bear. The animal does not push towards the east, as it is presumed that he has already made conquests in those quarters.

Verse 4. - I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand: but he did according to his will, and became great. The opening words of the Septuagint appear to be a translation of the last word of the preceding verse, ha'aheronah. being rendered, "after these things" - a change that is not defensible. It is more important to note that in the LXX. we have the four points of the compass mentioned, not merely three as in the Massoretic, "I saw the ram butting eastward, and northward, and westward, and southward." Had a falsarius been wishful to supply the missing direction, he would have inserted "eastward" between "northward" and "southward," only if he had begun with "eastward" would he have gone on as it at present stands in the Septuagint. What could make him change "west" to "east"? Our opinion is that the LXX. represents the original text. It is confirmatory of this that Theodotion. in strict agreement with the text of the Massoretes, renders the first direction "seaward" (κατὰ θάλασσαν). The Peshitta renders "westward," not by yammah, but by the term for "west" that became common in Exilic and post-Exilic Hebrew, ma'arab - the word that is used in the next verse. Ezekiel uses yammah for "west," when in vision he places himself in Palestine, otherwise it is not used for "west" by Exilic and post-Exilic writers. If we take the statement of the next verse as fixing what was "the west" to the author of Daniel, where would "seaward" be? If we draw a line from Tress, where Alexander landed, and continue it through Babylon, it reaches the Persian Gulf. "Seaward" would mean consequently "eastward," or approximately so, to one writing in Babylon. A great number of suggestions have been offered to explain the singular omission of "eastward" from the direction in which the ram pushes with his horns, Havernick, and following him Moses Stuart, assert that "eastward" is not mentioned because the Persians made no conquests to the east until the days of Darius Hystaspis, and then not permanent ones. Against this is the fact that Elam and Media were mainly east of Ansan. Further, the picture here given of the Persian Empire is not restricted to the days of Cyrus and Cambyses, but all through its course. As to the permanence of these Eastern conquests, the territories of Darius Codomannus east of Arbela embraced modern Persia and other territories to the confines of India. Keil assumes that the ram stands on the western bank of the Shapur, so, if he pushed eastward, it would be against his own capital; but if oobal means "a river," then the only meaning possible for liphnee is "eastward." He would then be butting towards the river across which the enemy was likely to come, moreover, against his own capital, unless the ram is supposed to be between the river and the city - an unlikely supposition, as Shushan was on the river Eulaeus. He further maintains that the unfolding of the power of Persia was towards these three named directions, and not towards the last, whatever that may mean. Ewald declares the ram does not butt towards the east, because that already belongs to him. As a matter of fact, and, as exhibited by the Book of Esther, welt known to the Jews, the Persian Empire did conquer towards the east. Behrmann says, "The ram does not push towards the east, because he comes from the east - a delicacy the Septuagint overlooked." In point of fact, there is no word in the vision of the ram coming from anywhere - this delicacy (feinheit) Professor Behrmann has overlooked. Kranich-fold and Zockler follow this. The view of Bishop Newton, followed by Archdeacon Rose, is that the east had no importance to the Jews; but north and south had just a little. Jephet-ihn-Ali and several modern commentators think the three directions, as the three ribs, imply the limitation of the Persian Empire. It certainly was recognized by the Jews to be little, if at all, less than that of Alexander the Great Hitzig propounds in all gravity an absurd view; he assumes that the ram was standing on the west bank of the river, and faced west, and argues that he did not butt eastward because he could not butt backwards. His preliminary assumption is groundless, as we have seen, and rams can change their position. The true explanation is that a direction has dropped out. While "seaward" had ceased to mean "west" to the Jews in Babylon, it did not take long residence in Palestine to recover this name for "west." A copyist living in Palestine, finding yammah, in the first place would translate it "westward;" then after "northward" he would, in the third place, come upon ms'arab, which also meant "west;" so naturally he dropped the second of what seemed to him synonymous terms. If we are correct in our supposition, we have here demonstrative proof that Daniel was written by one living in Babylon Are beasts might stand before him. All the powers round Persia had to submit to him. And be became great affords proof, if proof were needed, that the vision applies to the whole of the history of Persia. There is little necessity for Moses Stuart's translation, "became haughty."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
I saw
רָאִ֣יתִי (rā·’î·ṯî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 7200: To see

the ram
הָאַ֡יִל (hā·’a·yil)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 352: Strength, strong, a chief, a ram, a pilaster, an oak, strong tree

charging
מְנַגֵּחַ֩ (mə·nag·gê·aḥ)
Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 5055: To butt with the horns, to war against

toward the west
יָ֨מָּה (yām·māh)
Noun - masculine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 3220: A sea, the Mediterranean Sea, large river, an artifical basin

and the north
וְצָפ֜וֹנָה (wə·ṣā·p̄ō·w·nāh)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 6828: Hidden, dark, the north as a, quarter

and the south.
וָנֶ֗גְבָּה (wā·neḡ·bāh)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 5045: South country, the Negeb, south

No
וְכָל־ (wə·ḵāl)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

animal
חַיּוֹת֙ (ḥay·yō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 2416: Alive, raw, fresh, strong, life

could stand
יַֽעַמְד֣וּ (ya·‘am·ḏū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 5975: To stand, in various relations

against him,
לְפָנָ֔יו (lə·p̄ā·nāw)
Preposition-l | Noun - common plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 6440: The face

and there was no
וְאֵ֥ין (wə·’ên)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

deliverance
מַצִּ֖יל (maṣ·ṣîl)
Verb - Hifil - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 5337: To strip, plunder, deliver oneself, be delivered, snatch away, deliver

from his power.
מִיָּד֑וֹ (mî·yā·ḏōw)
Preposition-m | Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3027: A hand

He did
וְעָשָׂ֥ה (wə·‘ā·śāh)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6213: To do, make

as he pleased
כִרְצֹנ֖וֹ (ḵir·ṣō·nōw)
Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 7522: Goodwill, favor, acceptance, will

and became great.
וְהִגְדִּֽיל׃ (wə·hiḡ·dîl)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1431: To grow up, become great


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OT Prophets: Daniel 8:4 I saw the ram pushing westward (Dan. Da Dn)
Daniel 8:3
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